Confirmed: Yanks sign Marte for three years, $12 mil

Via Tim, we learn that the Yankees have signed reliever Damaso Marte to a three year deal worth $12 million. The story comes from Impacto Deportivo, a Spanish-language site. I believe they also broke the Luis Castillo signing last year. We’ll monitor this for further confirmation. If true, it seems like a decent deal for the Yanks. At least we won’t have to hear pundits scream in the Spring about the Yankees bringing in a lefty reliever just for the sake of it.

Probably one year too many, but I’m ok with it. The Yanks haven’t been shy about cutting ineffective relievers recently. So if he’s good for two years, then it’s a $6 mil-per-good-season outlay. It also solidifies that back end quite nicely.

Yeah, while I was in favor of picking up his option, I suppose a lefty reliever at 4M AAV is a bit easier to trade than a lefty reliever at 6M AAV. So, like I said at the time, it’s not what I would have done but the alternative probably is also a fairly decent option, so no need to complain.

Good player at reasonable rate + fairly easy to trade for something of value if he becomes superfluous + roster stability in the short term and roster flexibility for the long term = good deal

nick blasioli

i think it is a great signing…now please dont stop there….lets get cc,tex,and aj….also…i wish the yankee fans quit complaining about what each player makes each year…if the yanks couldnt afford to pay,,,they wouldnt…

I’d prefer CC, Tex, and Manny or CC, Tex, and Sheets to CC, Tex, and AJ, but I’m with you, let’s go spend some money.

radnom

CC, Tex and Sheets would be an excellent Christmas present.

Yank Crank 20

I think you guys are being a little selfish. You want your team to sign 3 of the 4 biggest free agents this offseason? Where will the money be for Holliday next year? I mean, if you want the Yanks payroll to be $225-$250 million than go ahead campaign for it but…CC, Tex and either Lowe/Sheets? That’s a lot guys. Gimme CC and i’ll be happy.

Jay CT

I would take Tex over Holiday. Plus, Matsui and Damon come off the books next season so there would be more money I suppose if they wanted to spend it. I personally think its great to see Holliday in Oakland. If he hits well, people will stop with the Coors factor. If not… I guess they look elsewhere?

It’s professional baseball. You think we should be selfless and show compassion to our competitive rivals?

You want your team to sign 3 of the 4 biggest free agents this offseason?

Yup. Because they’re good players that will help our team compete and the don’t cost us any prospects to acquire.

Where will the money be for Holliday next year?

I don’t really care. With the exception of Burnett, all of the other players are better players than Matt Holliday, IMO. But in any event, the money will be there; signing three marquee free agents won’t possibly cost more than a collective 75M AAV; we have 135M AAV coming off the books in the next three years.

I mean, if you want the Yanks payroll to be $225-$250 million than go ahead campaign for it but…

…but, it would likely be somewhere around $210-$220M next year if we did sign three marquee free agents, and then it drops to around $170-$180M when Damon, Matsui, Nady, Molina, and Betemit drop off the books after this coming season. It’s not as bad as you think.

Yank Crank 20

I think my complaining is due to an ’07 offseason hangover which makes me still believe the Yankees can compete with who they have an have the farm help. I guess I sometimes forget the horror of 2008 and how that plan went horribly wrong.

The “horror of 2008″ was that we didn’t have enough quality starting pitching and enough quality offensive production to compete.

Hence, CC-Tex-Manny or CC-Tex-Sheets.

Chip

I’m completely fine with this signing. I would have liked to get the picks for him but he can help this club out for the next three years. At least we should still get 4 high draft picks (two from Bittle/Cole plus two from Bobby, I assume we’ll lose our first and second at least).

Alan

I’m ok with this deal, if it is in fact the deal. The linked story doesn’t really provide any other information other than their own self-confirmation of the scoop. Even if its one year too many, it can’t be any worse than what we suffered through with Krazy Kyle.

http://www.freewebs.com/ps3tf2/ Double-J

Glad to see they brought Marte back, he did an okay job and really has been one of the more consistent bullpen arms in recent memory not named Rivera or Hoffman.

Scott of 3 Kids Tickets

That was my first thought, one year too many. However, I’m happy they brought him back.

-Scott

Bo

He would have got 4 yrs on the open market.

If Scott Linebrink can, he could.

Januz

I happen to like this deal. They are only paying Marte $4m a season for the next 3 years, and even average lefty relievers can have long careers. For example: Bob McClure was only 68-57 for his CAREER, but pitched 19 years. Source: http://www.baseball-reference.com.
I think the PEOPLE who will NOT like it are the agents and the players. Unless you are an elite talent like Sabathia or Teixeira, there is a rude awakening coming this off-season, the money will not be there. I think the single most interesting free-agent out there will be A.J. Burnett. He has a history of injuries, he is not a Boras Client, and he came off an excellent season. If he does not get a big contract, just watch the trickle down effect, and see the lack of money for the Ryan Dempster’s of the world. It will not be pretty.

I also heard that at his first at-bat, Jeter asked Tek something like “Does Evil Knievel know you stole his clothes?” To which Jason responded with a laugh. Excellent.

E-ROC

Good deal. The Yanks now have more than one spot in the bullpen solidified. Marte could become an expensive lefty specialist at the end of his contract.

http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike A.

Considering that LaTroy Hawkins just got $3.75M for one year, it’s hard to complain abut the dollars. The deal might be a year too long, but as long as Marte has a pulse, someone will be interested in him. It’s always easier to get rid of a pitcher like this than it is to acquire one.

im so mad we traded tabata for him and nady i mean tabata will be a manny type hitter and nady is ok but hes aging maybe they will trade him in and marte in july and get a premier prospect like tabata back what do you guys think??

Nady Nation

Couldn’t agree more. How do we trade away the next Manny for a package of 2 old guys? Not to mention we gave up on Ohlendorf too. Don’t people remember the sinker he flashed while he was here? Reminded me of a future Doc Halladay. Who’s with me?

http://www.freewebs.com/ps3tf2/ Double-J

Yeah. Tabata is the next Manny.

Just as an aside, you wouldn’t happen to write for the Farmer’s Almanac, would you?

Ron

“tabata will be a manny type hitter ”

Yeah, that or a Celerino Sanchez type hitter.

Slugger27

nady is aging? he will be 30 on opening day and we’re committed for 1 freaking year… gimme a break

Yank Crank 20

You seem to forget that when this trade was made Tabata was hitting like Eric Duncan, not Manny, and was having terrible disciplinary problems. He needed a change of scenery and the Yanks flipped him for what, at the time, seemed like what would put our team over the top. I have a feeling if the Yanks get a good team together, Nady contributes and Marte does what he does you won’t be worrying so much.

I was a big Tabata fan as well, but his stock had fallen. While we can’t keep giving away our Mike Lowells and Dioneer Navaros we also shouldn’t stop moving our Nick Johnsons, Ricky Ledees and Juan Riveras.

Sure these players may be productive down the road, but we’re the Yankees. Just because you can start for the Nationals and Pirates doesn’t mean you should start for us. Nady allows us to cut the cord on Bobby this year and Damon and Matsui next year. Marte is one of the top lefty relievers in the game and we all loved believed Cashman won this trade in July. Not to mention Marte was OUR prospect we once traded away…they can always come back.

If Tabata turns into Manny, it will only be a matter of time before Shittsburgh can’t afford him anymore and we can reel him back. But in the meantime I’ll be happy with Nady and AJax on the way. There are only 3 outfield spots and if you want to sign a Tex or Holliday and you’re gonna have to move Jeter, whose to say Tabata would have a spot to play in?

Slugger27

while a 2 year deal wouldve been nice… the more i think about this deal the more i really like it.

fuentes is the same age marte is… and i guarantee hes getting a ton more than 4m annually… probably more like 10m annually. with fuentes being the same age and most likely getting a 3/30 deal or possibly even higher, doesnt this deal sound more and more like a steal? i mean they put up very similar number pitching in the NL

to me, 4m annually is well below market value, and giving him 3 guaranteed years is a small price to pay

Brian

Pinstripes+ has Top 50 out, if anybody cares.

Andy In Sunny Daytona

You are not allowed to say who is in the rankings. Copyrighted material. Sorry. :(

Brian

Yeah, I don’t have it. I was hoping to non-covertly lure someone else into showcasing the goods. Thanks for the biggie-sized virtue, Daytona! :)

There is no question that I am a patriot, and love my country. As for the baseball reference link, at least I DO PROVIDE a link, instead of coming up with figures out of the air. If you went to college you had to provide footnotes where you gathered information from. This is a blog, so there is no need to be so formal. However, you should do some kind of citation.
As for Tabata, I keep reading about him and hearing comparisons to Manny Ramirez. he is NOT Manny. How many players in the last half-century are? Arod, Bonds, Mays, Griffey, Pujols? They are first ballot Hall of Famers, this guy has not even played a game in Triple A. The Yankees throughout their history, have rarely made a major mistake when it comes to trading young talent, perhaps the biggest in modern times was Fred McGriff. Think about the Mets with Ryan, Florida with Hoffman, Detroit with Smoltz, Montreal with Randy Johnson, BOSTON with Bagwell etc. Those are franchise changing errors, Mike Lowell was not, and the same will apply to Tabata.

you should have said “Florida with Johan Santana”. or i suppose “Houston with Johan Santana”.

Chip

They were just messing with you man. And Florida was definitely the winner in that Hoffman trade

C.Panella

I love this deal four mill a year for this guy is a steal….Just think about this Troy the Mop Hawkins just signed with the astros for 1/3.5 so id say this was definatly a great deal for the yankees :-)

gxpanos

This is good to hear. Weren’t there rumors that Marte struggled when he first got here because he couldn’t adjust to New York? If that’s true, it’s good news that he came back willingly, since he could have probably done as well or better on the open market. He must have gotten over everything about NY.

As long as Joe doesn’t try to use him for too many outs, he’ll fit right in.

Although I kind of wanted the draft picks, so Cash and Oppie could try to draft someone good and make up for losing Tabata. But this is way more of a sure thing.

To everything – turn, turn, turn
There is a season – turn, turn, turn
And a time for every purpose under heaven

A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep

Joseph M

It’s not my money but it looks to me as if Cashman bungled again. I would rather have Marte working off the final year of his contract (I tend to believe that brings out the best in a player) than to have him working on a fresh three year
deal. Who’s to say he’ll be any good by the time we get to the third year or even the second for that matter. As we all know relief pitchers can burn out fast.

I’m glad we have him I just think we were better off working on the one year deal.

Not exactly the brightest move considering the state of the yankees minor league system when compared to alot of other clubs. They need to continue drafting not signing guys in their mid thirties to multi year deals. The good news is the money and years is not that big a deal so a trade can still be pulled off.